What happens when older students struggle to re...

When students get to middle and high school without strong reading skills, the results can be devastating. In response to a recent Chalkbeat survey, dozens of parents and educators described secondary students who refuse to read out loud for fear of being teased, who can’t understand math word problems or science vocabulary, and gradually give up on school altogether. They worried such students face poor job prospects and bleak futures. One mother called the distress faced by older struggling readers “astronomical.” But respondents also had lots of ideas for helping older struggling readers. It’s an area ripe for attention, since most states and districts have focused recent reading improvement on early elementary students.